When it comes to computer animated children’s films this summer, there has been no shortage of choices when it comes to going to the movie theaters. The genre once seemed like a sure thing to bring in audiences, but as we’ve seen this summer, there now exists the possibility for the genre to become overly saturated.
But even with all the talk of over saturation in the children’s film market, it’s still been a summer of extremes. On one hand, Universal’s “Despicable Me 2” and Disney’s “Monsters University” have steam rolled the competition. “Despicable Me 2” even led NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke to say that the film would “end up being the single most profitable film in the 100 year history of Universal Studios.”
Other films haven’t been so lucky. DreamWorks Animation’s “Turbo” and recently released “The Smurfs 2,” coming from Sony have both found themselves underperforming. “Planes,” which also came from Disney and just opened this past weekend, seems likely to fall somewhere in the middle.
So in a crowded summer for computer animated children’s fare, what separated the winners from the losers? Here’s a list of the six major animated releases this summer and some reasons why they might have performed the way they did.
At the top of the list is Universal’s “Despicable Me 2,” which currently stands at $338 million domestically and $725 million worldwide. While the film is second in total worldwide gross this summer to Disney’s “Iron Man 3,” the much smaller budget of the animated film puts it firmly at the top of the list when it comes to return on investment. Being the “single most profitable film in the 100 year history of Universal Studios” is no small feat for a studio that once released ‘Jaws’ in 1975.
So how did this film perform so well? One explanation is likely the fact that it’s a sequel to a popular animated film. The timing of the film’s release also worked out extremely well. Coming out only two weeks after “Monsters University,” the film could have suffered from that film’s success, but instead seemed to piggyback off of it. “Despicable Me 2” then had a solid two week lead on the next animated film’s release DreamWorks Animation’s “Turbo.” So the film found itself in good position early in the summer before the market started to get overly saturated.
There’s also something to be said about the fact that the film was good. It currently holds a 75 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and, despite what executives sometimes seem to think, kids do notice that stuff.
